The TSCA Inventory

• Author: Carolyne R. Hathaway/William K. Rawson/Ann Claassen/Julia A. Hatcher
• Pages: 13-20

Page 13

Chapter III:

The TSCA Inventory

A. The Initial Inventory

TSCA §8(b) requires EPA to “compile, keep cur-

rent, and publish a list of each chemical substance

which is ma nufactured or proce ssed in the United

States.”1 In 1977, EPA promulgated regulations2

requiring certain “manufacturers,” including

importers,3 to report the identity, volume, and site

of manufacture of each chemica l substance manu-

factured for commercial purposes in the United

States during 1977. Companies were also permit-

ted to report any other chemical substa nces manu-

factured for a commercial purpose since January

1, 1975. e Inventory reporting reg ulations con-

tained a number of specic exclusions f rom the

reporting requirements.4 EPA prepared and distrib-

uted a manual of instructions for reporting, which

supplemented the Inventory reporting regulations.5

Companies reported substances for the initial

Inventory on EPA Forms A, B, or C.6 Form A was

1. 15 U.S.C. §2607(b), ELR S. TSCA §8(b).

2. See Inventory Reporting Requirements, 42 Fed. Reg. 64572

(Dec. 23, 1977); Inventory Reporting Regulations, Supplemental

Clarication, 43 Fed. Reg. 9254 (Mar. 6, 1978). ese regula-

tions were set forth at 40 C.F.R. pt. 710, subpt. A (1978). In

June 1995, EPA issued technical amendments deleting these

regulations from the Code of Federal Regulations, stating that the

regulations no longer had legal eect because, by their terms, the

initial Inventory reporting period closed in 1979. Provisions of

the regulations referenced in other sections of the C.F.R. were

incorporated into the TSCA Chemical Inventory Regulations at

40 C.F.R. pt. 710. See Chemical Substances, Deletion of Certain

Chemical Regulations, Technical Amendments to the Code of

Federal Regulations, 60 Fed. Reg. 31917, 31918-19 (June 19,

1995).

3. See 15 U.S.C. §2602(7), ELR S. TSCA §3(7).

4. See 40 C.F.R. §710.4 (1978). ese exclusion categories are nearly

identical to the ones listed in the subsequent PMN regulations

at 40 C.F.R. §720.30.

5. U.S. EPA, R   C S I-

: I  R   I I

(1977) (available from the ELR Document Service, ELR Order

No. AD-466).

6. U.S. EPA, Chemical Substances Inventory Report Correction Form:

Forms 7710-3A, 7710-3B, and 7710-3C. e reporting instruc-

used to report those substances included on EPA’s

previously compiled “candidate list” of chemi-

cal substances. Substances not included on t he

candidate list, but for which there was a Chemi-

cal Abstract Service Registr y Number (CASR N)z

were reported on Form B. Substances not on the

candidate list a nd for which there was no C ASRN

were reported by describing them “as specically as

possible” on Form C.7

Based on the information it received during

the initial reporting period, EPA compiled and

published the initial TSCA Inventory of chemi-

cal substances.8 Following publication of the ini-

tial Inventory, EPA allowed companies to report

any additional chemical substances t hat were not

included on the initial Inventory and that they pro-

cessed or used between January 1, 1975, a nd July

1, 1979. ese substances were added to the TSCA

Inventory, and a revised Inventory was published

on July 29, 1980.9 Altogether, the revised initial

Inventory included more than 58,000 chemical

substances as a result of the initial TSCA Inventory

reporting requirements.10 As an alternative to list-

ing chemical substances individually, TSCA §8(b)

(2) authorizes EPA to list “a category of chemical

substances in which such chemical substance is

tions for the initial Inventory included copies of these forms.

EPA also permitted companies to submit voluntary, supplemental

reports identifying reported trademarked products on Form D.

7. See 42 Fed. Reg. at 64575 (codied at 40 C.F.R. §710.5(b)

(1978)).

8. e initial TSCA Inventory was published on June 1, 1979,

and supplemented on November 9, 1979, by the addition of

substances reported too late for inclusion in the June Inventory.

See Availability of TSCA Initial Inventory, 44 Fed. Reg. 28558

(May 15, 1979); Availability of a Supplement to TSCA Chemical

Substances Initial Inventory, 44 Fed. Reg. 65180 (Nov. 9, 1979).

9. See Availability of TSCA Revised Inventory, 45 Fed. Reg. 50544

(July 29, 1980).

10. See Toxic Substances Control Act Chemical Substances Inventory,

Availability of Cumulative Supplement II, 47 Fed. Reg. 25767

(June 15, 1982).